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FRPC Life/Hoops - Bigger Than Basketball · Front Runner Podcast Collective

0:00
Ta ta ta ta!
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Good Sunday morning to you and wherever you may be.
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FRPC comes to you today solo.
0:44
Vince is here.
0:45
Nico unfortunately is not.
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The reason why this podcast is late, usually on a Friday, we hit you with some hoops.
0:59
Unfortunately, my mother went into the hospital and we are dealing with that slow walk.
1:16
Unfortunately, my mother is dying.
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I don't think there's a question about that.
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It's been hard.
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So I apologize for us being late.
1:42
I apologize.
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It is on me.
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It is not on Nico.
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We are trying to provide consistent hoops talk, football talk on Mondays, and unfortunately,
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life got in the way.
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For those who don't know, my mother is struggling with a litany of issues.
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She has a congestive heart failure.
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She has kidney issues, COPD, that's from the smoking.
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She also has an aneurysm that is at least eight centimeters, if not more, because it's
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been growing.
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And what it's doing is kind of surrounding her heart and squeezing it.
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She has decided to forego the surgeries.
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She didn't know if she could make it through it.
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The observations of the doctors is that it was pretty much 50-50 shot, whether she could
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survive the surgeries.
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But I don't think she realized that with that, that this was going to be just basically a
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merry-go-round to the hospital.
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She was trying to avoid that.
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And some little back history on our family is that early on, or all of us, every last
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one of us, I'll put it that way.
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I think we kind of, uh, what's the word I'm looking for?
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I'm sorry if I'm a little jumbled, so just bear with me with this.
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You guys wanted the full scoop.
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You guys wanted the real, you guys wanted the journey.
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This is a journey I'm on, so I do apologize.
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But we as a family weren't the most, well, responsible 100%.
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But I think also we just didn't have fighting through adversity.
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Now I'm not going to say I'm better than anybody else because I'm not.
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You know, I had for a long period of time with substance abuse, with alcohol, and now
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I'm living or trying to live day by day for the last six years without alcohol and just
4:27
turning my life over to my Lord and savior.
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Now that has 100% help.
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But the one thing I do agree with, and I don't know if you haven't read it in a book or anything,
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but there are doctors out there that say that once you really start abusing substances and
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what have you, you really stop aging at that point because your maturity level and how
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you overcome things or how you figure things out or how you contemplate what is actually
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happening to you, you're not doing it on your own anymore.
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You're allowing the substance to take whatever feeling is away.
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So usually when you get to a point where you stop drinking or you stop using drugs or whatever
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the case may be, you usually have a lot of immature grownups.
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Maybe not in every area.
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Could be in certain areas.
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Could be in responsibility.
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Could be in procrastination.
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Could be in can't make a decision.
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Could be in choosing a mate.
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Could be in making terrible decisions.
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It can be a lot of things that can manifest itself in a lot of ways.
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The reason why I bring this up to come full circle is that my mother has dealt with just
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not being able to make up her own mind.
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She's dealt with not knowing who she is totally.
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And really to tell you the truth, she's always had someone in her life to tell her what she
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likes and what she doesn't like.
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Now you would think, hey, that seems weird.
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Why would that be?
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My father was abusive.
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I think we've talked about this on the life card, obviously.
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But just because you get rid of somebody does not mean that their shadow doesn't impose
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itself on you.
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And I think my mother lived in a prison of her own making for a long period of time.
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I know how this feels because I was directionless.
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I was motivated by adoration, not by money.
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And I'm not talking about adoration to talk about fame.
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I'm talking about just the ability to be seen.
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Now I've made a lot of mistakes on that path.
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But here's a person, my mother, who is turning 75 this year, who really has been in quite
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a kerfuffle for a long period of time.
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I pray every day that there's some clarity and some discernment for her and that there's
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a peace.
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What I meant by that, it's not peace like you get peace and solace.
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I'm talking about peace.
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When you make a decision, if you struggled with making that decision, once you've gotten
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to that point where you have made it, you should feel lighter.
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You should feel more like, OK, this is the road that we chose.
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I'm committed.
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I'm confident.
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I made all the necessary thoughts thinking this through.
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And this is the course of action that I've decided to come up with.
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These are things that people learn how to do at 13, 14, 15.
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Obviously you get better at it when you get to college.
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Obviously you start to really get it going and perfecting it in your late 20s and early
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30s.
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And then by the time you get to late 30s and 40s, these things are just nestled with inside
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you.
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When you unfortunately deal with substance abuse, as my family has, these things don't
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come natural to you whatsoever.
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You have to learn them.
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You have to create good traits.
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And that's really hard for somebody who has always taken the easy way out.
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And I'm speaking for myself.
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I'm not speaking for my mother because I want her to be able to tell her story.
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But I just wanted to kind of give you guys a little bit of what's going on with me and
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why we didn't have a Friday pot.
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So I've been very busy trying to figure out where we are.
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And unfortunately, where we are is in a place where basketball had to become a little bit
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less important.
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The NFL draft had to become a little less important.
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And I had to figure out how to deal with my feelings, what I'm actually feeling, preying
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on it, how I can help her, how I can be a good steward, how I can be a person that she
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wants around, that she looks to for comfort.
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So I pray on these things every day.
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I pray on the right things to do for her in her journey as she gets closer to the end.
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And it's been easier.
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But I think we hit a new phase this week.
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I think we're in a phase where her body is starting to shut down a little bit.
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I'm not saying she is in trouble or anything like that.
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She's not.
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She's resting comfortably at a hospital right now.
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But I think this is this kind of might be where we are.
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And I have to get comfortable with the uncomfortableness.
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Something that I had said something about this before.
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And being uncomfortable with the uncomfortableness basically is allowing yourself to understand
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like, hey, listen, this is not going to be fun.
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There's not going to be a lot of ton of joy in this, but there will be nuggets.
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There'll be granules of lessons.
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There'll be granules of blessings and maybe not for yourself.
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Maybe these blessings are for somebody else that you can pass along to people who are
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going through some of the same things that you have gone through.
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Maybe it's not any of that.
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Maybe it's you're just here.
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And the great thing about it is that I used to be a fixer, fix everyone.
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Shout out to my exes.
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I said I wouldn't name them just for keeping their private lives private.
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But shout out to to my exes.
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Boy, little did I know that I was also the problem.
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Said earlier in this podcast that we were going to be consistent with podcasts.
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Unfortunately, I feel like I let you guys go.
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I feel like I've been derelict to my duty.
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And I just didn't have it Friday.
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I tried to pull it together yesterday.
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And for some reason, I couldn't.
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I just couldn't call the trigger on turning the mic on.
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I couldn't pull the trigger on saying, hey, what about those Celtics or what about those
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Detroit Pistons or what about Aaron Rodgers to New York or whatever the case may be?
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Yes, I know this is supposed to be a basketball pot.
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So keep it basketball bits.
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You know, the madness is going on.
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March madness is going on.
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And here's a little antidote for you.
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So my mom is obviously in the hospital with some heat.
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What it actually is is that she has she can't breathe.
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And what is actually happening is she's drowning.
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There's liquid, there's fluid that gets in between your lung and your heart.
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And for a lot of people, that just flows very well.
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Unfortunately, for my mother, it does not.
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And to counteract that, obviously, or not counteract that to to.
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Impact the problem or in or just compound the problem more.
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Actually, let me take this back.
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To compound the problem more.
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You put the aneurysm, you put the COPD, you put all the other issues that she has.
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And you get to this point where we're in and out of emergency every couple of months.
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Now.
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This sucks for her.
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This sucks and it sucks for me.
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Because.
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I'm sad for her.
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The thing that she tried to avoid by not having or electing not to have the surgeries.
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She didn't realize that she had actually signed herself up for more hospital visits by not
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having the surgery that would alleviate the aneurysm and allow blood flow to matriculate.
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How it's supposed to be.
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He just couldn't see herself in the hospital.
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You know, in and out of hospital for a year, because that's what the doctors told her.
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It was going to be multiple surgeries because the aneurysm was so large.
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It was so.
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Advanced.
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The thing is doing some really.
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If you're a doctor is doing probably some really cool stuff.
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If you're a person, it's doing some horrific, scary things.
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And it was going to obviously have to be done in sections and what have you.
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And she just she said, no, I don't want to do that.
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I do not want to do that whatsoever.
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And I think she thought she was.
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Kind of pushing the hospital away.
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Little did she know that she was actually signing herself up for like a, you know, a
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two year annual subscription of every couple of months going to the hospital.
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So that is where we are with that.
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But the funny anecdote that I wanted to tell you is that with the March madness going on,
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obviously I've always talked about how I'm a UCLA fan.
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This is where the sports comes in.
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Right.
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So she goes to the hospital and her biggest concern was, Hey, can this TV get TNT?
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Cause there's a UCLA matchup that I need to see.
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So if you guys want to know where my passion comes from, when it comes to sports and when
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it comes to, to being able to share this with you guys, you look no further than the four
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foot 11 white lady that's laying in the hospital bed, long beach, California.
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That's where I came from.
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My mother was the person who threw the baseball with me.
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My mother was the person who threw the football with me.
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My mother was a person who rebounded for me.
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When I was shooting hoops, my mother was excited at when the super world would come up and
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she was there to wipe my tears away.
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When UCLA lost to USC, when it came to going to the Rosewell or going to certain bowls
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or whatever.
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So there's the sports with the life, but she was very concerned, not with all the things
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that are going on with her, not all of the things that you're trying to figure out with,
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man, I, I don't know if I'm coming out of the hospital.
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I don't know if this is it.
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I don't know.
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Am I ready?
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You know, cause we've had conversations like that.
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Are you ready?
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Do you feel ready?
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You know, and obviously nobody has an answer for that, but I mean, I think you can start
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getting yourself more together.
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I don't think you're ever ready just as a FYI.
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Now for people who have more crew, crew people who have tasted a lot of success, obviously
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being ready is like, you know, my kids are secure financially.
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I, you know, raise good kids, you know, and they're good.
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They're taking care of, you know, my wife is taking care of, or my spouse is taking
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care of, you know, if you left a legacy with a company, you know, you want to make sure
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that the right people are in place and that your, you know, what you built is important
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to you and you want to see it kind of live on.
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Yeah.
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My mom wasn't thinking like that.
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She was thinking about, yo, five 40 Pacific standard time.
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UCLA will be playing their second round game and we are trying to get to the sweet 16.
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So let's go.
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That's where she was.
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So I know this was a long roundabout way to get to sports, but this pod is specifically
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for the reddicon.
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I love you mom.
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Can I dedicate this part to you?
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If you know me at all, pretty still, it got, not still.
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Like in the way of still a good time, but you know, I usually am able to provide some
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comedy relief or just kind of deal with things or deal with things in a, in a way.
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I definitely understand that she is going.
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I definitely understand that my mother, uh, the outlook doesn't look great, but like I
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said on the life pod before my only job here is to be a servant, allow her to have joy,
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know that she has people in her life that love and care and think of her.
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And if you haven't listened to the life pod, go back and listen to it.
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You know, I'll, I'll hit on a little bit.
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She was a victim of domestic violence for countless years.
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So for the women out there who are dealing with that, know this, you aren't alone and
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know this, that your value of yourself is way bigger than the person beaten on you.
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And I hope you find the way to love yourself enough to get yourself out of that situation.
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But yeah, she, she was concerned with the UCLA brooks.
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She was concerned about how they were going to match up, how this second game without
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Jaylen Clark was going to look and was her boy, tiger Campbell, because she loves his
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hair and high knee high kids, junior, we're going to be able to play well.
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So when you want to know about why I get psyched about the draft NFL or NBA or trades coming
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down or spectacular play, or even when it's a hard situation like John Moran, who's coming
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back to us in next week.
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And I was harsh on John because I grew up in the inner city.
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I grew up in South Central LA.
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So I know.
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I was scars, prove it.
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And just, I hope for better for John.
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I hope that this, this little wake up call, this little kind of, if you want to call it,
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like let's just kind of rub our brow, wipe the sweat off and kind of go take a side and
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you take a deep breath.
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He should, he should.
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And I really hope that he takes advantage of this opportunity to not one better himself,
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but what a great lesson that he can now bestow on others through this.
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Even if he's a vulnerable enough to talk about it, how this could impact young men coming
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into the league or even young, you know, even younger, like middle school and high school
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kids who are, who look up to job, who want to be like John Moran, who want to have an
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NBA career and be able to take care of their families like John Moran, who wants to have
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a Nike shoe deal like John Moran.
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I really hope that he has learned his lesson.
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I really hope that not just he's learned a lesson, but I really hope that he started
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to appreciate what he actually has in the, the many gifts that God has given him because
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it all can be taken away from you just like that.
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So we hope that we see improvement off the court with John Moran.
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We hope that now Memphis can continue their, their assent of the Western Conference standings.
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And also here's the thing.
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This makes for a more interesting playoffs.
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Obviously, if John Moran is here now, we have no idea what that man is going to be going
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through.
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We have no idea what measures he is taking to better himself.
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And we don't know how those measures are going to affect him on the court because a lot of
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people think that your persona, you know, some people can turn it on and off.
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Coby was one of those people.
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He could turn it on and turn it off.
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LeBron is one of those people turn it on, turn it off.
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Actually Coby didn't turn it off.
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He just kept it on.
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He was like, this is me probably going to be a hole and this is how it's going to be.
27:05
You either don't like it or you're not because there were just so many stories within him
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and not having like this like bunch of friends and what have you.
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And he wasn't a real going out type of person.
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And, you know, just wanted to practice and play ball, man.
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If you hold for job that that his persona or whatever he was doing to kind of unleash
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the pressure vows, sort of speak, that he finds another way that he can do that because
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that's going to be monumentally important.
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Listen, I'm not a crew.
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Go out and have a good time.
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You want to go out and drink and party, have a good time or whatever, you know, have a
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bunch of girls around you.
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If that's what you want, like if that's what you're choosing to do by all means, do you
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keep that in private though?
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Don't let that get out.
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You know what I'm saying?
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Don't don't allow yourself to be put in positions where your career, all of your, all of the
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things you built up are now called in question because the media will start looking at his
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leadership qualities now, now that his decision making process has been out there on display
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for the world.
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And by the way, shame on the guys who were around him, who did not tell him that turning
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IG live on in the strip club was a bad look.
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So if you are part of job, Moran's contingency or his, his party, as I like to call it, you
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guys need to look yourself in the mirror.
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What, what is your worth to this situation?
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Cause we talked about it before.
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You gotta have somebody around you that will tell you, no, that will say, Hey, John, I
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don't think this is the way we should be moving today.
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I don't think this is the proper way that we need to be hanging out.
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Maybe we should go get some shots up.
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Maybe we should go and get some, uh, you know, some, some cardio in or whatever, but this,
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this gun thing and, you know, after all crazy in the strip club and whatever, that's all
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wasn't good.
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If you not make it $200 million that your annual salary is like 44 or $45 million a
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year.
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No, you can't act it like that.
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You really can't.
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Now to my mother's, uh, favorite team, the Lakers.
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Hey, mom, love you.
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Shots out.
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You lost two in a row.
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Wow.
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Yeah.
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Uh, there was a lot of good vibes around the Lakers.
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And then all of a sudden Anthony Davis sits out the Houston game.
30:23
Now albeit Houston is tanking, but they had just beat Boston.
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And then they went in and wrecked the Lakers in Houston.
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The Lakers then follow that up with a game in Dallas.
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Now this game in Dallas did not have Luca, but you saw a very uninspired Lakers team.
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Now there's a lot of things, a lot of blame going around and whatever.
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Here's the other thing, man.
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Now whether those guys were on the team before or not, but once you do get there, you start
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to feel the weight.
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You start to feel the weight and the significance of what's going on.
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And maybe they just didn't have it.
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Now if this was, you know, early two thousands, we're not worried about this because we're
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probably a first or second place and it's not a big deal, but it's a big deal to a lot
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of Laker fans, including my mama, that first of all, AD is sitting out games, but here's
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the thing.
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You knew they were going to be cautious with him when he came back.
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Sorry about your schedule and or lack of success throughout the year, but your guy is not playing,
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AD is not playing in back to back games.
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That's the mandate from the medical staff and you will follow that.
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And that is it.
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There's no question about that.
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But playing uninspired, it happens.
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There's just lulls in the year.
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Some days you just don't have it.
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Some days you just can't muster up.
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You know, I talked about it on this pot.
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You know, I had every intention on doing a pot on Friday until my mother was carted into
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an ambulance.
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Right.
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I had every thought imaginable to do this pot.
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And I just couldn't.
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I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
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Was I sad?
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A little.
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Was I concerned?
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A lot.
33:11
Was I praying?
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Yeah.
33:16
But the one thing that I want to do, and I think I've said this before, but I really want
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everyone who is listening to me right now.
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I do this because I love to do it and I love to do it for you.
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The servant posture that I have is not just for my mother, but it's for my audience.
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I want to bring you a good podcast every single time.
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That's my goal.
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Now whether we meet it or exceed it or not live up, it's for you to decide.
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But know that the goal and the passion and the drive and is there for you.
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You know, yeah, I like to talk well sports and I would do this if there wasn't a microphone
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in front of me.
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100%.
34:22
I do do this because I hope that it brings you some joy and I hope it brings you some,
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hey, oh, he says some stuff that I was not thinking of.
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So the Lakers have gone through some stuff, you know, with all the Westbrook antics and
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things of that nature that happened earlier in the year and then the LeBron injury and
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the uncertainty with that, with him doing everything in his power to get back as quickly
35:01
as he possibly can.
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But now we're at this point where, you know, we're 60 plus games in the season.
35:15
Teams have nagging injuries in a lot of respects.
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You got to remember there are six new guys on this team.
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How many of them have families?
35:29
How many of them have wives?
35:30
How many of them have like long term girlfriends or whatever?
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And people say, oh, well, they have a ton of money and whatever.
35:38
But to get those people there, if you were like, let's say D'Angelo Russell for a second.
35:45
So this man is in Minnesota.
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He's with his best friend, Carl Anthony Towns.
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Now he's heard the rumors.
35:52
He knows he might get traded.
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He understands he's done it before.
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He got traded from the Lakers to Brooklyn, you know, and then he went to Golden State
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and then he went to Minnesota.
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So he's been around the league.
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He understands how it goes, but still, it still sucks to move.
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Think about us normal people and moving now.
36:20
Is it easier for D'Angelo Russell to move?
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Yes.
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He's probably not picking up a damn thing, but it's still unnerving to go to even a place
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that you're familiar with, but it's definitely changed since you've been there.
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And you changed.
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Now, also, if you have a family or kids or whatever, now you got to navigate whether
36:46
they're going to stay in your old town until the season's over.
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How much time do I get to see them?
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Is FaceTime enough?
37:05
And I got to navigate where I'm living in Los Angeles, where, you know, where my car
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is going to be at.
37:15
Like, listen, I understand that you don't feel a lot of sympathy for somebody making
37:19
20, $30 million a year.
37:21
I get it, but it's still a pain in the butt, man.
37:25
Moving stuff, getting stuff done in a short period of time, because when a trade happens,
37:33
it happens and that's it.
37:34
You're gone.
37:35
Now, you might be able to ask for a couple of days to get all of your affairs in order,
37:41
but you don't have weeks.
37:43
Think about a move when you usually when people move, it's usually not out of the blue.
37:52
Now, you might be blessed with a job that does put you in that situation that you are
37:58
so dynamic, so impactful.
38:01
And God bless you if you are and round of applause for you as well.
38:06
And I mean that with all sincerity, because, hey, listen, if you got the bag, you got the
38:11
bag and you know how I feel.
38:14
If we don't, we don't stand for nothing at FRPC front runner podcast collective, we are
38:22
pro getting the bag.
38:26
If you're getting cash, we are excited for you because we feel that you have worked extra
38:33
extraordinarily hard to get that back.
38:37
All right.
38:39
So with that being said, you know, you're starting to move, you start to get everything
38:43
together, the logistics, everything like that.
38:45
There's a lot going on.
38:47
OK, now you you add that to an NBA player.
38:53
OK.
38:54
And all the stuff that goes on around him.
38:59
The people, the publicist, the PR person, the manager, the agent, the homies, the family,
39:08
the extended family, you know, oh, we thought we were staying in Minnesota.
39:13
Now we're not.
39:14
We're bummed.
39:15
Who's moving out to Los Angeles with you?
39:20
Or are we not going to make that decision until the offseason?
39:24
These are all things that are playing in this person's head.
39:29
And then let's say for some reason, somebody doesn't agree with your point.
39:35
So somebody doesn't agree with, oh, I don't think we should do it this way.
39:41
Well, first of all, Angelo Russell is a breadwinner.
39:46
So how it goes is how it goes.
39:50
Now there might be a lot of discussion.
39:52
I don't know how D'Angelo Russell handles his house in my house.
39:58
There's discussion.
40:01
Because I want to make sure there's not a stone that has been left unturned.
40:08
I want to be able to see it from a bunch of different viewpoints.
40:12
And then at that point, hopefully with prayer, I can make a really good decision and usually
40:21
I'm asking God for the right way to go.
40:30
So discernment is key, but those are some of the pitfalls of moving around.
40:36
I'm not saying that I'm not suggesting that it's on D'Angelo or it's not on D'Angelo.
40:42
Well, it is not on D'Angelo Russell that the Lakers have lost a couple of games.
40:48
Now he's had bad shooting games, but like I said, we have no idea what's in his mind.
40:55
And I understand that you could say, well, he can lay on 30 million dollars to ease his
41:01
mind.
41:03
We all know that money is not everything and people deal with things differently than others.
41:11
I am sure that when you turn this podcast on, you didn't think that you were going to
41:16
hear about how locked up I was the last couple of days mentally trying to figure out how
41:29
I can muster up enough energy to do this pot for you guys.
41:37
You know, they're human beings.
41:41
D'Angelo Russell, A.D. Shaq, Shaq, what am I doing?
41:48
I'm so old.
41:49
That's a that was an elderly moment right there.
41:52
LeBron James, Malik Beasley, Troy Brown Jr. and not we're not even talking about the professional
42:03
aspect of it.
42:05
You look at Troy Brown Jr., you look at Malik Beasley, you look at some of these other guys,
42:09
even D'Angelo Russell.
42:12
These guys are all in one year contracts to plan for their next deal.
42:18
So you're trying to incorporate dudes who are definitely looking for the bag next year
42:23
and security and also play in the teen concept.
42:33
Does anybody see where there could be an issue?
42:38
Can anybody see where human beings, human beings, I say, who are not perfect, can have
42:52
a slump.
42:55
So Laker fans, this is your boy.
42:57
And like I said, I love you guys with all my heart.
43:02
I know you guys are struggling.
43:04
I know the hurt is there.
43:08
I'm with you guys.
43:09
I understand.
43:11
But let's ease off some of the destructive statements that I've seen on Twitter about
43:18
certain individuals not being on the team anymore.
43:23
And let's get Kyrie over D'Angelo Russell.
43:27
Let me tell you something.
43:28
There is no way in hell.
43:31
You really want Kyrie and what he does in his stuff.
43:41
Trust me.
43:42
Trust me.
43:43
Trust me.
43:44
Trust me.
43:45
Laker fans ask Brooklyn net fans.
43:50
I know you don't like to talk to him, but ask Boston Celtics fans about Kyrie Erman
43:56
and his inability to make up his mind.
44:00
So we have a game today against the Orlando Magic.
44:08
We will see how that goes.
44:09
If the Lakers come out sluggish, Orlando is one of those teams that will smack them
44:16
and smack them good.
44:21
Paolo Bencherro is awesome.
44:24
Franz Wagner is awesome.
44:29
These guys, this team is definitely headed in the right direction and I cannot wait to
44:34
see what they look like next year with another pick.
44:38
Think about it.
44:39
This team is getting more talented next year.
44:43
We don't know if it's going to be a high, high draft pick, but there's enough dudes
44:49
in this draft that I'm safely saying legitimate difference makers.
44:59
Let me see.
45:00
Let me think about this.
45:01
Give me one second.
45:02
I know this is bad podcasting, but give me a second.
45:13
People would say there was something like six or seven difference makers in this draft.
45:17
I don't know if I believe that.
45:19
I believe there's three.
45:22
I think there's some people on the fringe of it.
45:25
Now if they hit, we can get to the six or seven or eight people that people were talking
45:30
about.
45:31
But as far as high leverage role players or contributors, like starters to a team, there's
45:42
got to be like 14 guys in this draft class.
45:46
Easy.
45:48
And this is without doing a ton of work.
45:54
Cam Whitmore.
45:55
Awesome.
45:56
The Thompson twins, Asar and Ah-Man Thompson.
46:01
Both fantastic.
46:07
Walker from Houston.
46:09
Excellent.
46:10
Grady Dick from Kansas who's been eliminated.
46:13
Gone.
46:15
He's going to be good.
46:18
Ed Howard from Michigan seems to be moving out the draft boards.
46:23
So we have enough dudes in this draft that Orlando is going to get somebody pretty significant.
46:29
They need a guard desperately.
46:33
Somebody who can get them in and in their actions.
46:36
And if the clock starts to dwindle down, we can get the ball to our necessary go to guys
46:42
and get them a bucket.
46:46
So they need ball handlers and a point guard would be nice if they can get one.
46:56
Don't don't reach.
46:59
But if there's a point guard out there, go ahead and wrap that up.
47:05
Now what that means is that let's see if there's anything else that we need to talk about.
47:12
Like I said, the madness has been going on.
47:14
We're going to have a pod.
47:15
We're probably going to do more pods.
47:17
We're probably going to do multiple pods all day for like the next two or three.
47:24
I know that we have a Monday pod, which is usually the football pod.
47:29
So that will definitely hit the way it should.
47:34
I think there will be a different type of basketball pod, because obviously this seems
47:41
like a verbal love letter to Loretta Kern on a podcast.
47:53
So I am sorry that you guys, if you guys turn this off in the first 10 minutes, I definitely
48:02
understand if you didn't and you listen to the whole thing.
48:07
Just know that you are hearing a son love his mother and hope and pray that everything
48:16
turns out all right.
48:17
And if it doesn't, we hope and pray that her eternal sleep is restful.
48:31
So we will be back tomorrow.
48:36
Obviously we do not have a Sunday pod.
48:39
Like I said again, I do apologize for that.
48:45
I do not want to miss pods.
48:48
Trust me on that.
48:51
But I couldn't give it to you.
48:58
I couldn't give it to you until today.
49:01
Honestly, it just didn't have it.
49:05
And for that, I'm sorry.
49:08
Well, we will rally and we will bounce back and we will lean on our people who are there
49:23
for us.
49:27
We will lean on our church family who are there for us.
49:33
And we will get through this and I will see you guys tomorrow on the Monday pod.
49:41
And we hope to have Nico back tomorrow.
49:45
He was he had no idea I was going to end up doing this.
49:53
Honestly.
49:54
Normally we have conversations.
49:57
Obviously it's been muddled with stuff.
50:02
He's got a lot of stuff going on.
50:05
Some stuff that hopefully I want to say in two months we can talk about.
50:10
But we'll see.
50:14
Along with the marriage, with the wedding.
50:17
So he's got a lot going on.
50:19
There's a lot on his plate.
50:21
So I'm actually kind of happy that we were able to get a part in and not use his voice
50:27
because I know that he wants to be here, but he spreads himself thin to be here.
50:38
And I appreciate him so much.
50:43
And this is not your normal pod.
50:44
I understand that you don't usually get a bunch of warm and fuzzies and all that sort
50:50
of stuff from me.
50:51
Usually you get jokes, you get numbers, and hopefully you get inside information that
50:56
I have somehow dug up, listened to on a pod, just done some kind of like if I was in that
51:04
position what would I think?
51:07
And following up with other people.
51:09
That's what you guys come to expect here.
51:12
But every once in a while you are going to get this.
51:17
And you know, I know I have been promising a lifepod, but you know, the problem is is
51:24
that you know, the person can't cooperate because their body won't cooperate.
51:30
So the days that we think we can go ahead and knock out a lifepod with my mother on
51:35
it, she hasn't felt well.
51:39
Plain and simple.
51:41
So it's not like we're trying to hold it back from you, but life gets in the way.
51:49
And with that being said, let's look to these games today in the madness real quick.
51:56
Obviously UCLA is going to the Sweet 16.
52:00
We got that eight clap all day.
52:02
Fords up.
52:03
Shout out to my boy, Hami Hockes Jr.
52:06
And shout out to Tiger Campbell and also shout out to Amani Bailey, who has stepped up his
52:14
gameplay over the last, I would say since the conference tournament.
52:20
It's been a lot better.
52:24
And my mother is excited.
52:25
So I mean, Hockes, Tiger Campbell and Amani Bailey are really helping the spirits of my
52:34
mother.
52:35
So you know, I don't know how many UCLA fans are out there.
52:40
If you're not a UCLA fan, let's jump on the bandwagon.
52:44
Is there any way that.
52:49
That they can win, they can win number 12.
52:54
And I know they doing it for Jaylen Clark, but in our little community, is there any
52:58
way that we can get UCLA to rally the troops?
53:04
Or the four foot 11 white lady that's in the in the hospital?
53:10
Is there any way that we as a community can grow the mojo to have UCLA win?
53:19
And trust me, if you think for one second that won't make her feel better, then you
53:26
are definitely listening to the wrong pot.
53:30
Because that chick loves the Steelers.
53:39
She has terrible taste in college football teams with USC.
53:45
And I listen, if you're a USC fan, I get it.
53:48
But you got to understand, I am a UCLA guy.
53:51
So therefore, unfortunately, where I will not be biased when it comes to analyst stuff
54:01
and observations, you know, Tommy Trojan.
54:06
That I do not like you.
54:08
With your private school having self, you know that.
54:14
You know, you've been a thorn in our side for many a decade.
54:20
So but she's a USC football fan.
54:23
She's a UCLA basketball fan.
54:25
She's a Dodger fan, and she is a Laker fan.
54:30
So that is my mother's fandom.
54:35
Hopefully we will at some point get her on to talk about that fandom.
54:42
But the breathing issue has kept her off mics, not because it does not sound good.
54:51
She just can't talk for any kind of period of time.
54:54
So not for this.
54:58
You know, when you're given a lot of energy into this.
55:02
So if she feels better, she will make her appearance on the pot.
55:11
If she doesn't, then we'll just have to do these every once in a while and just kind
55:15
of talk it through.
55:16
So I really appreciate everybody, everybody who listens to these pots.
55:24
We have people in Germany.
55:26
We have people in Brussels.
55:27
We have people in Australia.
55:29
For some reason, we have people in Ashburn, Virginia, who download the pot regularly.
55:39
We have some really loyal peeps, and I just want to first just send my appreciation to
55:47
those who find this entertaining.
55:50
And if you do find this entertaining and hopefully you find this a little informative, tell a
55:59
friend.
56:00
We need numbers, just like every podcast, obviously.
56:04
You know, I would like to have sponsors and be able to show them numbers of growth and
56:11
what have you.
56:12
So if you appreciate this pot, tell a friend.
56:22
And download and subscribe and give us five stars and follow us on Twitter, which is Front
56:30
Runner PC and at Niko FRPC.
56:38
But man, I've seen people in Singapore, literally.
56:43
Like I'm looking at the map and seeing people all across this globe that download this podcast.
56:51
And from the bottom of my heart, I am so grateful.
56:57
And I hope that this pot wasn't too cheesy and it wasn't too emotional and it wasn't
57:04
too crazy.
57:05
And yes, we didn't hit on a lot of basketball, but know that we are, they are number one
57:13
seed hunting out there.
57:17
Be careful out there, number one seeds for the March of Madness.
57:21
You guys are endangered species.
57:25
But this basketball pot, obviously, is a little bit different.
57:32
And you might get one of these every once in a while.
57:39
Because as a creative person, when we're hurt or when we're going through stuff, this is
57:50
how we get through it creatively.
57:53
And I hope that this was somewhat enjoyable for you and we will see you Monday.
58:01
So with that being said, for my guy, because I will definitely do it for the Canadian bomber,
58:08
the Canadian shaman, the Canadian Bill Simmons and the Canadian Zach Lowe, my brother, I
58:15
love you.
58:16
I know you haven't heard from me in a couple of days and we tried, we missed each other,
58:24
but all is well, my man, all is well.
58:29
And with that being said, we are signing off.
58:32
I'm Vince and for Nico, who's not here, we love you guys.
58:37
We appreciate you guys.
58:39
Tell a friend about us.
58:40
Tell a friend about RFPC.
58:44
If they like football, you know, Monday they're getting it.
58:47
If they like basketball, you know, Friday, normally they're getting it.
58:52
And every once in a while we're going to drop a life pod.
58:55
So today is a basketball life pod.
58:58
I don't know what it is.
59:00
What it is, is a babbling idiot speaking into a microphone and hoping that this reaches
59:14
someone who's going through something and just know that when it's completely dark,
59:26
light will find its way in.
59:28
I believe that with all my heart, my faith is strong in God.
59:32
He will carry me through this situation.
59:35
And I hope that you guys will pray for my mother a little bit.
59:42
And you know what?
59:46
Also, reach out to somebody that you're close to today.
59:55
If you can physically give them a hug, look them straight in the eye and say, I really,
1:00:03
really love you and I appreciate you.
1:00:06
You know what I'm saying?
1:00:09
I don't think we do it enough.
1:00:10
I don't think we handle ourselves accordingly enough.
1:00:15
But if this pod makes you feel a certain way, I really hope that you reach out to somebody
1:00:24
today that you probably haven't talked to in a while.
1:00:30
Just catch up with them and say, hey, just wanted to tell you I love you.
1:00:39
You know, you're in my thoughts.
1:00:42
So with that being said, we are going to sign off again.
1:00:47
Thanks to everyone who is downloading and subscribing to the podcast.
1:00:53
Thanks for the listens.
1:00:54
I so, so appreciate it.
1:00:56
And again, tell a friend, tell a coworker, tell a parent, tell a gas person, gas.
1:01:06
Oh my God, I messed that one up.
1:01:09
So tell someone who works at a gas station behind one of those windows.
1:01:17
When you are asking to put 90 to $125 in your tank to download the podcast, let's build
1:01:27
the community.
1:01:28
And by the way, you don't have to hit me out to give me well wishes on my mother or anything
1:01:33
like that.
1:01:34
If you have a question about your team, whether it's football or basketball, you definitely
1:01:41
can hit me up at front runner PC or at Nico and that's N I C O F R P C and that is Nico
1:01:53
Mia Tello's Twitter handle.
1:01:56
Again, I'm babbling, so I'm just going to turn off the mic at this point.
1:02:02
Appreciate you guys.
1:02:03
We'll get one and we will see you tomorrow.
1:02:05
So I can't wait and we will be back tomorrow.
1:02:12
Stay mage and enjoy yourselves and enjoy the madness that is going to happen today.
1:02:24
And for those teams and for those schools and for everybody who is biting their nails
1:02:29
and whatever, man, this is a great time of year.
1:02:32
So we'll see you Monday with some football out.
1:03:02
Bye.
1:03:03
Bye.